Objectives To assess the evidence for a benefit of music-based therapies (MBTs) on rehabilitation outcomes in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Setting Scholarly literature (published in English) from any country. This systematic review received no specific funding and was registered on PROSPERO as CRD420251083656. Data sources Six bibliographic databases: AMED (Ebsco), APA PsycINFO (Ovid), CINAHL (Ebsco), Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE (Ovid) and MEDLINE (Ovid), plus supplementary searches and citation chasing (search date July 2025). Primary and secondary outcome measures Eligible studies used…
Introduction Itching is a common and distressing clinical manifestation following burns, which severely impairs patient quality of life. Current pharmacotherapy for post-burn pruritus is limited by low efficacy and frequent side effects. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), a non-invasive neuromodulation technique, is widely used for analgesia and exhibits a favourable safety and tolerability profile. Although itch and pain are both nociceptive sensations, they constitute distinct sensory modalities. This clinical trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TENS for…
Introduction Although the positive effects of music therapy on improving social and emotional issues in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are well-established, the relationship between specific intervention doses and treatment outcomes remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis protocol will quantitatively evaluate the impact of music therapy dosage on social communication skills and emotional regulation functions in children with ASD. Methods and analysis This protocol is registered with PROSPERO and follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and…
Introduction Anxiety disorders are the most common youth mental health problems in the USA. Most children do not receive treatment and among the few who do, many do not experience significant improvement. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify novel intervention targets to improve treatments for childhood anxiety. Past research demonstrates that parent anxiety plays a role in the development and maintenance of child anxiety, but empirical evidence for the mechanisms that drive this transmission is lacking. Interpretation bias, or the tendency to perceive threat in ambiguous situations, may…
Background The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), located in the northwestern region, is the third most populous province in Pakistan, with a population estimated at 41 million. Objectives To determine the cancer counts and age-standardised incidence rates (ASIRs) per 100 000 population over a 4-year period for KP, 2020–2023, and to compare them with those available for two districts of Pakistan and nearby areas. Design A retrospective, province-wide, multicentre observational study. Setting Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Lahore, as the collaborating centre…
Introduction Acupuncture is increasingly recognised as an effective treatment for chronic pain conditions, yet inter-individual variability in treatment response remains a major clinical challenge. Recent neuroimaging studies suggest that baseline brain characteristics may serve as objective biomarkers for predicting therapeutic outcomes, with some achieving classification accuracies exceeding 80%. These findings, however, have not been systematically synthesised. This review will be the first to systematically evaluate whether pre-treatment neuroimaging biomarkers can predict acupuncture…
Objectives To assess sex differences in three measures of healthy life expectancy (HLE) among people living with HIV (PLWH) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, between 1996 and 2020. Design Retrospective population-based cohort study. Setting BC, Canada, using the Comparative Outcomes and Service Utilisation Trends (COAST) cohort, derived from linked population-based administrative health datasets within a universal healthcare system. Participants All known PLWH identified in COAST between 1996 and 2020. Of these, 2511 (17.8%) females and 11 624 (82.2%) males met inclusion criteria of age ≥20…
Objectives We aimed to examine regional differences in the relationship between core clinical features assessed using the Improving the DIAgnosis and Management Of Neurodegenerative Dementias of Lewy body type in the NHS (DIAMOND-Lewy) dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) Assessment Toolkit and memory service diagnoses of Lewy body dementia (LBD). Design Secondary analysis of a multicentre observational study. Setting Memory clinics in three sites across England (North East, London and South East) from July 2019 to March 2023. Participants 935 individuals with a new memory service diagnosis of…
A phase 2 study of Celldex’s barzolvolimab in a chronic skin disease has missed its primary endpoint, driving the biotech to end development in the indication and raising doubts about an upcoming eczema readout.
This cohort study examines national trends in Medicare Part B discarded drug utilization and spending between 2017 and 2023, including changes before and after implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
This diagnostic study describes the development and validation of a computerized adaptive test to assess autism spectrum disorder among children and adolescents.
This systematic review and meta-analysis uses actigraphy sleep measures to quantify interindividual sleep variability among individuals across the psychosis spectrum compared with healthy control participants.
This cohort study using Danish national health data assesses whether risk of mortality after an Escherichia coli or Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infection differs by piperacillin-tazobactam resistance or susceptibility.
This case-control study assesses the association of hormonal contraceptive use with initiation of semaglutide therapy among females aged 12 to 49 years in Denmark.
This cohort study examines the association between exposure to regulated drinking water contaminants and the risk of uterine cancer among female educators in California.
This cohort study investigates incidence trends of autism spectrum disorder from 2016 to 2024 to quantify the temporal patterns before and after diagnostic substitution and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prediction market Kalshi launched betting markets tied to clinical trial results and FDA approvals. Healthcare leaders warn the model could invite insider trading and distort the integrity of the research outcomes it’s meant to forecast. The post You Can Now Bet on Clinical Trials Like Playoff Games, But Health Execs Say It Crosses a Line appeared first on MedCity News .
Objective To evaluate the association between use of newer glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs; semaglutide, tirzepatide) and alcohol-related hospitalisations among adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) or obesity. Retrospective cohort study using target trial emulation. Setting Electronic health record data from a collective of US healthcare systems. Participants Adults with AUD and T2D or obesity who started a newer GLP-1 RA (semaglutide or tirzepatide) or a relevant active comparator between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2024. Interventions…
Agios Pharmaceuticals said tebapivat fell short of expectations in a Phase 2 test in sickle cell disease. It’s the latest in a series of disappointing industry developments in sickle cell disease. The post Agios Pharma Drops Sickle Cell Disease Drug After Phase 2 Data Disappoint appeared first on MedCity News .
Crystalys Therapeutics has raised $130 million in series B financing to advance the development of its gout drug dotinurad and prepare for a potential commercial launch.
by Chuang Liang, Godfrey Pearlson, Juan Bustillo, Peter Kochunov, Jiayu Chen, Xiangrong Zhang, Rongtao Jiang, Kent E. Hutchison, Jing Sui, Zening Fu, Xiao Yang, Yuhui Du, Daoqiang Zhang, Shile Qi, Vince D. Calhoun Background The difference between neuroimaging-predicted brain age and chronological age, the predicted age difference (PAD), has been studied as a potential biomarker reflecting individual brain health. Although previous large-scale studies have shown that brain age deviations occur across multiple disorders, cross-disorder comparisons of PAD within a unified framework, together…
by Casey Crump, Jingkai Wei, Jan Sundquist, Kristina Sundquist Background Women with adverse pregnancy outcomes have higher subsequent cardiovascular risks, but their long-term risks of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and potential causality are unclear. A better understanding of such risks is needed to improve early risk stratification, clinical care, and long-term cardiovascular health. We sought to determine long-term risks of PAD associated with 5 major adverse pregnancy outcomes in a large population-based cohort, and to assess for familial confounding using co-sibling analyses. Methods…